The Black Raider : The Story Of The Legendary Commerce Raider Wolf
If you haven't heard of the Commerce Raider Wolf, this is the page for you. Summary : Chase is called to talk to Wolf, who is isolated due to her mental insanity. The story she tells, will blow your mind. Wolf Introduces Herself The story begins in the Abandoned Naval Base in Adventure Bay. Chase is seen coming down the stairs as Hood greets him. Hood : Chase! Thank God you're here. Chase : Why so grateful? Hood : Well... We've been hearing strange noises coming from a room in our quarters. It's like a maiden was locked in there and is crying for escape. Chase : You have the right pup. Where's the room? Hood : It's between Conqueror's room and Izumo's Room. They left their rooms in case the room next to them was haunted. Conqueror : It IS haunted. Don't go in there Chase, please! The ghost in there will kill you! Chase : I'm sure it's nothing to be afraid of. Chase goes to the room to find it locked.He unlocks it with Rocky's lockpick and, as he enters, he is surprised to find no one there. He closes the door behind him. Chase : (nervously) Hello? A female voice answers. ???? : How foolish of them. Chase : I'm not here to hurt you. ???? : That's what they all say. Next thing you know, you're bound to the ground with fists bearing down upon you faster than you can react and you're begging in vain for pardon. Chase : I'm not one of them. That's not who I am. ???? : What makes you think I can trust you? Chase : If I wanted to hurt you, I would've done so by now. ???? : We've all heard that one before. Last time someone said that to me, I was tricked into torture. Chase : If I could see you, I could say how sorry I am for you. ???? : Sorry isn't enough for me. I need true trust from you. Chase : For one thing, I don't have a gun. ???? : (cocks Chase's pistol) You did. Chase now sees a pair of blood red eyes looking at him. His own gun is pointed at him. Chase : Let's not get dirty here. ???? : Getting dirty is what I'm good at. (stares for a time) Somehow, I don't want to kill you. Chase : You don't? But, you have my gun. ???? : You seem young and strong. You could be my one and only. Chase : I'm married and I have puppies. ???? : That sucks. I was going to spare you. (point the gun back at Chase) Chase : What happened to you? ???? : (pauses due to surprise) N- no one has asked me that question for some time. (drops the gun) You can have that back. I don't need one any more. Chase : (confused) You're crazy. ???? : There was a time when I wasn't. Name's Wolf by the way. Chase : Chase. Wolf : Good name. (walks away) Chase : I was told you had problems with the world. Wolf : I don't have a problem with the world, the world has a problem with me. People saw me cutting pork chops and went "AAH! HELP! RUN! PSYCHO ON THE RUN!" (sighs) They judged me before they knew me. They threw me into a prison and abused me to their own pleasures. I am what they made me. I came here for refuge, and the first thing they did was lock me in here like I was nothing. I've been in here since. Chase : When was that? Wolf : I wish I could remember. Chase : You really shouldn't be in here. Wolf : Why? Chase : There are other pups who live here and they think this room is haunted by a ghost. Wolf stares, then she bursts into laughter. Chase : (after Wolf finally calms down) What was that all about? Wolf : I wasn't laughing at you, it's just that people still believe that %#@$!&. Chase : Woah, language! Wolf : Sorry. (pauses) Is there a war going on? Chase : Yes. Wolf : Thank GOD!!!! Chase : Why? Wolf : I miss war. It's the perfect time to raid commerce, just like I did in the Great War. Chase : You mean World War 1. Wolf : There was a second one? Chase : Yep. Wolf : &%$@#!, I missed it! Chase : It was much worse than the first and commerce raiding was done mostly by submarines. Wolf : %&$!@# Chase : Are you done yet? Wolf : Yes. (pauses) If only they knew. Chase : Knew what? Wolf : What feats I did in the Great... World War 1. Chase : Were you famous? Wolf : Should be. Chase : What happened? Wolf : If I tell you, will you promise you won't arrest me. Chase : I promise. Wolf : Ok. here we go. Birth and Captivity Wolf narrates from here. I was born in 1912 or 1913, depending on whether you think we're born when our keels are laid or when when we're launched. I wasn't called Wolf then, but rather, Wachtfels. My sister, Gutenfels was built alongside me. She was a cheerful ship, never one to miss the silver lining. I was proud to have her as a sister. When my keel was laid, I had little to no knowledge as to where I was or how big I would get. It was a terrifying experience for me, and I'm sure Gutenfels felt the same way. As time passed, I felt more comfortable, but I was still blind as my bridge had yet to be put into place. Gutenfels was always there to comfort me. Gutenfels : There's nothing to worrying about. We'll be out eventually. Wachtfels : I have a strange feeling that one of us will join Titanic. Gutenfels : She was speeding when she wasn't supposed to. She didn't even have enough lifeboats for her bloated hull! (both laugh) Wachtfels : It's still scary to think about what the ocean will be like. Will it be forgiving? Will it be relentless? Gutenfels : We won't know until we get there. It may be scary, but it's also exciting. The Ocean is a big place, one worth exploring for one's self. Those words never left me, but little did I know that the would later come to haunt me. Even after I was launched, I was still scared. When I was finished, I would be expected to be able to handle the roughest of seas, but I felt I would never be ready. So the day I was finished was the day I said I would never be ready for the Ocean. Gutenfels was ready as she usually was. I just stayed in a dockyard doing nothing but praying I would never go to sea. My would-be captain loved me well. He took good care of me, so much so, that my brass fittings reflected like a mirror. I was more beautiful than I ever dreamed I'd be. One night, I had a nightmare that I was in the middle of the ocean and I was being chased by warships. They were shooting at me. I didn't know why until I looked down on my deck and say guns and torpedo tubes. I was horrified. Then I saw thunderclouds overhead. Lightning struck me and I was jolted awake. It was storming that night, the rain pouring over me like milk into a glass. It was miserable. I got little sleep and it was still raining when the sun rose. Gutenfels was coming back from her maiden voyage and was thrilled. Gutenfels : That was so much fun! I never though I'd go to Great Britain. I met Olympic! (squeals) Wachtfels : You're happy about that? Gutenfels : Yeah! She was so gentle and kind. Wachtfels : I've been having a good time here. (yawns) Gutenfels : All that loitering wearing you out? Wachtfels : Oh, no. Gutenfels : (sarcasticly) uh huh. Sure. Wachtfels : It's just that.. I'm scared. Gutenfels : Scared? Of what? Wachtfels : The Ocean. Gutenfels : (stares, then LOLs for a while) Seriously, sis? You're scared of the one place you're supposed to go? Wachtfels : I had a nightmare that I was being chased by warships. Gutenfels : (surprised) Why were they chasing you? Wachtfels : I was apparently armed. Gutenfels : Armed? Who gave you guns? Wachtfels : It was only a dream. I'd never be chosen to have guns. I'm a freighter, not a warship. Gitenfels : I heard Lusitania was built so she could be an auxiliary cruiser in time of war. When the word "war" came out of her mouth, I was suddenly struck with fear. I knew the Kaiser was building a navy to match the British. There was also a complex alliance system in place. It seemed to me as though war was inevitable, and I was scared. There hadn't been a major European war in many years, so I didn't know what the next war would be like. I must've been staring at Space, because Gutenfels was looking at me like I was a stranger. Gutenfels : (confused) Are you ok? Wachtfels : (stunned) Y-y-yeah. Nothing's wrong with me. Gutenfels : You were staring off into Space as though in a trance. Wachtfels : (sighs) I was frightened when you said the word "war." The way things are now, it's as if we're begging for a war. Gutenfels : I think war would be exciting. All the traffic that tends to happen between allies in such a circumstance is just what I want. Wachtfels : I think war may be scary. What if one of us gets sunk be a warship? Gutenfels : There are rules that prevent warships from going Rambo on commerce vessels. With such rules in place, I find it's hard to imagine myself in Davy Jones' Locker. War and Terror Gutenfels was a professional when it came to finding a bright side to any situation. I loved her for it, but even her skills couldn't stop tragedy. Summer in 1914 was unusually pleasant, even for late June. Only a month ago had word of Empress of Ireland's tragic sinking brought shock to us. Some of the Irish ships who visited had treated the Canadian liner as a representative of their country and were still mourning for her as if they had just lost their mother. Storstad, the ship that sank Empress, was demonized for it. He never recovered from it. But that tragedy had subsided by now. Olympic was still mourning for her sister, Titanic, but nobody else was taking it as seriously as they had when her sinking was still fresh in their memories. I had other things to worry about. There had been talk of giving me a trading job, something I dreaded. I had made a new friend in the meantime. Panther, a gunboat, had taken special interest in me, mostly because she was a lesbian, but also because I wasn't doing what I was built to do. She often mocked me for it. Panther : Are you still here? Wachtfels : I'm where I've always been. Panther : You really need to get out there, girl. Wachtfels : I'm scared I'll be sunk. Panther : Well, they didn't give you a hull for nothing. I say you put that thing to good use. I was about to reply when a van pulled up by he pier. He had a look of shock on his grill. Van : Girls, I've got terrible news. Panther : Hans, calm yourself. Hans : Austria's heir, Franz Ferdinand, and his wife were assassinated yesterday. The Austrians are talking of war. Panther : War you say? Hans : Yes. Panther : YES! Wachtfels : Why are you so excited? Panther : I've been waiting for a real war since I was commissioned 12 years ago. Hans : But you did make a name of yourself when you really whipped the French during the Agadir Crisis. Panther : That wasn't real war. Wachtfels : Easy for you to say. You're a warship. Panther : Gunboat. Wachtfels : Whatever. Like many others, I was convinced that all out war involving all the Great Empires wasn't likely. Assassinations were common then, so what could possibly make this one different? Throughout July, there was much debate between us and the Austrians. I was nervously praying to the Lord that a possible war wouldn't involve Germany. Exactly 1 month after the Sarajevo Assassination, Austria finally declared war on Serbia. I was puzzled. If the Austrians wanted a war with Serbia, why had they waited so long to start one? Just days later Russia declared war on Austria. I knew that Germany would be involved at that point as the Kaiser had warned the Russians that we would mobilize if they did. Sure enough, we went to war with Russia. Days later, Great Britain and France declared war. At first, things went well for us. We went through Belgium and invaded France. Then the Allies countered us and the advance stalled. By 1915, all hopes of a quick war had faded. There was no telling when or if it would end. The British were breaking the rules early in the war by blockading us. In response, we unleashed our U-boats. On May 7, one of them sank the passenger liner Lusitania. She went down in less than 20 minutes, killing 1200 people, many of them Americans. Of course the Americans weren't very happy with us, nor was anyone else. The Kaiser was forced to call back the U-boats. He turned to commerce raiders for a solution. When the first attempts with passenger liners and cruisers failed, they started sending out cargo ships. Pungo, who was a good friend of mine, volunteered to go as Moewe. He left devastation in his wake, and bragged about how oblivious the British were. I was worried that I myself would become a commerce raider. After all, most raiders never returned. New Job, New Identity It was night on the day my worries were realized. It was April 1916, and the war was still raging. By now, airplanes had created a new theater of war, one which every battleship knew would bring death to them as Humans love experimenting with new technology. I was still moored to the dockyard, praying that the war would end soon. Then I heard voices. It was the Dockmaster, who was leading another man towards my dock. By the look of the man's uniform, I took him to be an officer. Dockmaster : I'm afraid that's all the ships we have here, Nerger. Nerger : There must be some other ship here. Dockmaster : I said it before, there are no more. My heart was racing with fear, as I knew he would see me. Right as I finished that thought, he saw me and seemed surprised. Nerger : What about that one over there. Dockmaster : Wachtfels? You don't want that one, she hasn't sailed since she was built years ago. Nerger : She's still beautiful. I had received such comments before, but this was the first time I blushed in response. Nerger seemed like a nice gentleman. Nerger : Dockmaster, how much is such a ship worth? Dockmaster : Around 400,000 marks. Nerger : I don't have anywhere near that much... but the Navy does. I'll arrange for the purchase of this vessel. Docmaster : For what purpose? Nerger : For commerce raiding. My heart sank when I heard those words. I knew I most likely wouldn't be coming back. Nerger seemed unfazed. He inspected me inside and out, from my bridge to my engines. When the chief of the Admiralstab arrived, I was as nervous as ever. I'm surprised no one saw me shivering with fear. Nerger : Herr Admiral. (salutes) Adm. Holtzendorff : (salutes back) Herr Frau Kapitan. This is the ship you chose? Nerger : Yes, sir. Adm. Holtzendorff : Well, I have your orders. You are to lay minefields outside the ports of Colombo, Bombay, Karachi, Calcutta, Rangoon, Singapore, and Cape Town, the last port is to be mined first. Once your orders are complete, you may attack shipping as you please. I expect you'll be back in 6 months. Nerger : That short a time? Adm. Holtzendorff : (surprised) Is there anything wrong with that? Nerger : 6 months is too short a time for me. I plan to remain seaborne for a year. Adm. Holtzendorff : (shocked) A year you say? Nerger : You heard me right. Adm. Holtzendorff : Such a long mission can only be sustained by stealing coal and supplies from the ships you attack, and the prisoners that are sure to build up will be a concern. Nerger : A concern I will tend to when it comes. Adm. Holtzendorff : I wish you luck with that, but the crew won't under any circumstances bear it. No commercial steamer has ever been at war for so long. (leaves) Nerger then came aboard and went to what would be his cabin under my bridge. I was terrified. I had never been at sea for a week, let alone a year. I decided to talk to Nerger myself. Wachtfels: Um, Nerger, sir. Nerger : What do you want? Wachtfels : (surprised) You can understand me? Nerger : I have a thing for that. Wachtfels : I uh... I just want to tell you- Nerger : I know, you've never sailed before. I'll give your engines a good test run when we perform practice drills before setting out. Wachtfels : Do you remember Belgravia? Nerger : That ship was readied hastily, her hull was ill prepared for the roughness of the sea. I won't make that mistake. Wachtfels : How long do you plan to make me ready? Nerger : I'll spend as long as I must to make you ready. Wachtfels : You're not getting the point. I don't want to be a commerce raider. Nerger : You think Emden did? Emden was a mid-sized Cruiser who had been assigned to the Kaiser's China Fleet before she was forced on her rampage that cost her her life. Knowing that, I couldn't fault Nerger's logic. No raider had ever wanted the job, not even the Confederate legend Alabama. Wachtfels : (sighs) Ok, I'll go, but only if you promise that you won't let any harm come to me. Nerger : I promise. For the rest of April and Early May, I was readied for my voyage to Wilhelmshaven, where I was told I would be turned into a raider. I was given a fake name, Jupiter, a name I wasn't a big fan of, but I had no say in the matter. Wilhelmshaven wasn't a big port, but it wasn't a small one either. The journey there was a scary one as I had never sailed anywhere, but I made it and the dockmen treated me warmly. For the next few months, the men turned me into a raider. I was sure even Gutenfels would fall for the disguise they gave me. They cut out sections of my deck walls with blowtorches and reattached them with hinges to conceal the 5 inch guns and torpedo tubes that they then bolted to my deck, which was painful, but tolerable. My holds were modified to create spaces for crew and prisoners. I was also fitted with 465 mines, 1400 shells, and 16 torpedoes. My masts and funnel were modified so they could be raised and lowered to make me look like another ship. I was also loaded with enough paint to completely repaint my hull if necessary. Finally, in November 1916, my transformation was nearly complete. I heard the roar of and airplane in the distance. I watched as a biplane swooped down and landed in the water near my stern. Biplane : Hello! Wachtfels : uh... hello? Biplane : I was told I would be coming with you. Wachtfels : (surprised) What? Why? Biplane : Ya' know, to spot targets for you. Now would you kindly lift me aboard? My floats are getting frostbite. Wachtfels : Oh, heheh, sorry. I lifted him aboard where he was disassembled and put in the mine hold. I knew I would encounter a plane at some point, but I never dreamed I would be carrying one. I held one last practice drill on November 29. The next day, I finally became the Wolf. It was night when I set out on my great voyage. Panther escorted me out of Kiel, where I had been training. I could tell she was saddened by my departure as she had tears in her bridge windows. Wolf : (concerned) Are you ok, Panther? Panther : (startled) What? No, no, I'm good. (smiles) Why do you ask? Wolf : You looked like you were crying. Panther : (sniffs) It's just seawater on my bridge. Wolf : (sarcastically) Sure. Just then, U-66 surfaced. He had been commissioned the year before and had sunk 11 enemy ships including a Royal Navy cruiser. He was quite overconfident with his "skill", a trait nobody liked, especially Panther. U-66 : Hey there. Panther : What do you want now? U-66 : I was told to raid enemy shipping. I thought I'd escort you out of friendly waters on my way there. Panther : (hesitates) Ok. U-66 : (confused) Are you ok. Panther : Shut up! U-66 : Ok, geez. U-66 accompanied me up to the Skagerrak strait. Afterwards, I was on my own. There was heavy fog and rough seas during my journey into the Atlantic. I was as scared as I'd ever been, but I entered the Atlantic on December 10. I was astonished. I hadn't seen a single enemy warship thus far! Maybe my captain was as lucky as he sometimes claimed to be. Risky Start The voyage to Cape Town was uneventful, lasting the rest of December and half of January. My crew worked on my decks and ran my engines for a month and a half, and still, there were no enemy warships! No Brits came to sink me! I was starting to think the British weren't as powerful as they claimed. Nerger thought so too. Nerger : Have the British become cowards? Wolf : Maybe. We haven't seen them yet. Nerger : (thinks and comes to a revelation) Maybe it's that convoy system they're using. Wolf : (scoffs) What's bad about convoys? Nerger : They're just as hard to find as a single ship, especially in the middle of the ocean. Wolf : We'll be fine. Cape Town is a busy port, isn't it? Nerger : (smiles) It won't be when our work is done. (both laugh) We arrived at Cape Town on the night of January 16, 1917. I was amazed! Cape Town's beauty was enhanced by its lights. I nearly cried at the sight. My crew were ready to get to work. It was then that I saw an enemy warship for the first time. When I saw who he was, shivers went up and down my keel. It was HMS Cornwall, who had helped hunt down Dresden and his squadron in South America back in December 1914. I knew I wasn't a match for him, so, seeing him coming towards me scared me more than being at sea. He then saw me. I had mere seconds to think up a good excuse. Cornwall : Who are you? Wolf : (imitating a British accent) I'm just a merchant. Cornwall : I meant, what is your name and destination? Wolf : My name is, uh... Jupiter. I was just arriving after a long voyage. Cornwall : Long voyage? Alone? You haven't run into any U-boats, have you? Wolf : No. They never saw me. Cornwall : Well, lucky you. Those little buggers won't give a moment's thought before puttin' a fish in your side. That's why I'm givin' these transports an escort. Wanna join? Wolf : No thank you. I'd rather finish my job, then I'll catch up... if the Gerry's don't catch me first. (all laugh) Cornwall : Carry on then. (to the transports) Are we all ready? Transports : Ready. Cornwall : Then let's go! (they all leave and Wolf sighs with relief) That I managed to fool the ship that helped sink Dresden was a miracle. With that taken care of, I went to work and laid a barrier of 25 mines off Cape Town. To this day, I wonder how no one saw me do it. It took me two days to reach my next target, Cape Agulhas, where I laid 31 mines. I then proceeded to mine the rest of my targets. While I was sailing, the mines I had laid claimed my first victims. I had a powerful receiver, allowing me to listen to news while maintaining radio silence. It was from this receiver that I learned just how amateurish the enemy reacted to the incidents. They started attacking innocent German people, believing the sinkings to be acts of sabotage. I found this amusing, but the fact that it was Germans being attacked kept me from laughing. Reunion and Parting Mid February saw me at Colombo, where I laid 51 mines before leaving. I heard transmissions from several ships that night. As I sailed to my next target, more ships hit the mines, causing more chaos among the enemy. By February 27, I had completed the minelaying phase of my mission, and I was now hunting for enemy freighters. Because I was raiding, I had to follow the ancient prize rules, which prohibited me from actually sinking my victims until all personnel had left and the cargo was sorted. I wouldn't have to follow them that day. I saw a silhouette in the distance that took the shape of a freighter. As I approached, I noticed that the ship looked a lot like me. I realized it was Gutenfels. She then saw me and terror took her. Gutenfels : (Terrified) Who are you? W-w-what do you want f-f-from me? Wolf : Gutenfels, don't you remember me? Gutenfels : My name's not Gutenfels… not anymore. Wolf : (surprised) What do you mean? Your name's always been Gutenfels. Gutenfels : Only Wachtfels would know that. Wolf : I am Wachtfels. Gutenfels stared for a bit, then finally recognized me. Gutenfels : Wachtfels, it really is you. Wolf : I told you. What happened to you? I haven't seen you since the war broke out. Gutenfels : The British took me in. I work for them now. Wolf : You work for the enemy?! Gutenfels : They've been kind to me. They gave me a name I like. Wolf : Which is? Gutenfels : Turritella. Wolf : (Flattered) I like that name too. Turritella : Looks like you finally got over your fears. (notices something isn't right with her sister) Wait a minute. Wolf : What's wrong? Turritella : (looking closely) Are those... drop-plates? (Shocked) They made you a raider! Wolf : (slightly panicking) It's not what you think. Turritella : You were ordered to sink me, weren't you? Wolf : Why would I sink you? Turritella : Because I work for the British. Wolf : But, you're still my sister. I won't sink you. Turritella : Well, what do you plan to do with me then? I wasn't ready for a question like that. Just then, Nerger and his first mate came out. While we had been talking, they had been taking Turritella's crew aboard, who were mostly Chinese, and taking a list of her cargo. They seemed concerned. Nerger : I don't want to sink such a fine German ship. KptLt. Brandes : Perhaps I could take her to mine the Gulf of Aden. The captain told me his ship went there a lot. Nerger : (after thinking for a moment) That's not a bad idea. Put 25 mines on the Turritella and take her to the Gulf of Aden. Turritella grew stiff as the orders were given. I could tell she was frightened. Turritella : (composing herself) They're not really gonna make me a raider... are they? Wolf : (hesitating) I... I can't say they won't. Turritella slowly realized her fate, but refused to be overwhelmed. It wasn't in her to do so. Turritella : I... I'll have to face my bosses sooner or later. I'll do it. The mines were loaded, we said our goodbyes, and Turritella, now called Iltis, set off on her mission. (sighs) I never saw her again. First Blood A few days later, as March came, I saw my first prize, a rusty British tramp moving slowly in the water. Here was my first true test as a raider. She was humming to herself at the time; she didn't notice my approach... until one of my after guns blew up, setting off oil barrels and ammo piles, and causing a lot of pain on my part. The tramp, however, thought I had fired on her, for she immediately surrendered. I pulled alongside her, still wincing from the explosion. Wolf : (groans from the pain) Identify yourself. Tramp : (scared stiff) J-j-j-jjj-Jum-m-mn--na Wolf : Calm down. I cant understand you when you stammer like that. Tramp : Oh, yes, uh... sorry. I'm uh, a little jumpy. My name is Jumna. Wolf : Where are you going? Jumna : I was going to Colombo with a hold full of salt, and not the kind you give at you archrival. Wolf : Do you have any coal? Jumna : 300 tons, yes. Why? Great Success Uproarious News Resistance Is Futile Love of a Neutral Rough Return and Great Mourning Baltic Melancholy New Owners, New Troubles Final Salute Conclusion